Code for Science and Society Inc

We envision a future where community centered open public interest technology initiatives are strong and sustainable. Where these projects compete in the marketplace with corporate-backed tech and win because they work. Where anyone can access philanthropic capital -- that is coupled with practical and strategic support -- to launch a project that advances open knowledge and enhances people’s lives.

To achieve this vision, we take a practical approach that focuses on implementing the best organizational practices to build sustainable foundations for our work and projects. Currently we are focusing in three key areas:
1. Programs: Build and run programs that keep projects and leaders on a positive trajectory and enhance the open technology ecosystem
2. Operations: Build operations to support our development as an effective and efficient organization, prioritize documentation and transparent processes to model operational best practices
3. Sustainability: Innovate models and partnerships that enhance the open tech ecosystem and provide stable, engaging, fulfilling jobs

We work to support open source, public interest technologies that align with our mission with practical financial and administrative support through our Fiscally Sponsored Projects Program. The projects that are an excellent fit for fiscal sponsorship at CS&S also align with our strategy in that they are also innovative in their approach to leadership, operations and/or sustainability.

We improve access to the open data and public interest technology ecosystem by building funding mechanisms, governance structures, and educational resources that center community needs and transparent processes in our Collaborative Communities Program. This includes documenting and sharing openly our own organizational processes, and the processes and stories of our fiscally sponsored projects and community members.

CS&S is uniquely qualified to work at the intersection of science, technology, and public interest initiatives. The team has built expertise in managing fiscally sponsored projects, working collaboratively with funders to de-risk and manage grants and donations, and building effective programs in science, scholarship, and civic tech. Executive and staff bios are can be found at https://codeforscience.org/people.

CS&S operates the Sponsored Projects Program to offer fiscal sponsorship coupled with strategic support to mission-aligned projects across public interest technology domains. Our Sponsored Projects Program has continued to grow over the second half of FY 2018-2019. This growth continues to drive the financial stability of CS&S, and points to a major need in the public interest technology community. However, we are beginning to see indications that it’s time to add staff if we hope to support a larger number of projects in 2020. We will review growth in this program, discuss formalizing our due diligence process and Board approval process, and discuss strategies to fund additional staff to support the continued growth of this work.

CS&S’ Collaborative Communities Program centers on growing the capacity of communities to build, own, and sustain values-centered technologies. Work in this area over the last six months includes community focused research (Moore sustainability research grant), community-focused events and development of open educational resources (Invest in Open Infrastructure leadership, inclusion centered follow up from the 2018 OSAOS event, and a leadership development event at csv,conf,v4). Through strategic collaborations and networking, we’ve also grown this program in the second half of 2018-2019. The potential and resonance with the community of this program is evidenced by robust community engagement and participation. Growing the Collaborative Communities revenue to better sustain activities is a critical goal for the next 12 months, however we have yet to gain traction with funders. We will discuss key opportunities to pursue this work and new strategies to consider.